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Wayne Staats | NCAA.com | December 28, 2018

Clemson-Notre Dame: All-time history, most recent meetings

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When Clemson and Notre Dame meet in the Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff on Saturday, it will be only the fourth meeting between the two programs. Below, find a summary of each game in the series.

However, despite the short history of head-to-head games, the showdowns have come during important seasons or a little before national championships.

Clemson-Notre Dame: All-time history, most recent meetings

Here are the three previous meetings between the Tigers and the Irish. Clemson leads the series, 2-1:

No. 5 Notre Dame 21, No. 15 Clemson 17 (Nov. 12, 1977)

Joe Montana missed the 1976 season after separating his shoulder, but 1977 turned into a season to remember.

The Irish lost to Ole Miss earlier in the season, but moved up to No. 5 for the Clemson game. In front of a then-record crowd of 54,189, the Tigers took a 17-7 lead.

Then Montana worked his magic, leading the Irish on two touchdown drives to escape with a win.

Later, Notre Dame beat top-ranked Texas 38-10 in the Cotton Bowl to jump from No. 5 to No. 1 and win a national title.

Though the Tigers lost, they remained No. 15 in the country. It's the only time in program history Clemson didn't drop in the rankings after a loss.

No. 14 Clemson 16, Notre Dame 10 (Nov. 17, 1979)

This time, Clemson rallied from a double-digit deficit to win on the road.

Though the Irish led 10-0, Clemson scored on four consecutive possessions to win. The Tigers rushed for 241 yards on 74 attempts, a record for most carries by the visiting team in Notre Dame Stadium history.